Randy Seriguchi is putting more black teachers in the classroom
SHACK15 member Randy Seriguchi, Jr. competes with the school to prison pipeline. As the Executive Director of the Urban Ed Academy (UEA), he is supporting the early leg of a parallel pipeline to success for the remaining African American boys in the city. Through Saturday school programming, STEM experiences, in-school mentorship, and strong community engagement, UEA is a reliable partner in the elementary school space. He is a leading advocate for recruiting more men of color into the classroom. Prior to moving to San Francisco, Randy spent 5 years working to lift up social justice through education in Washington, D.C. and California. He is an active member of the New York State Bar Association, holds a Juris Doctor degree from the American University Washington College of Law, and received his Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Michigan. He spoke with the Journal about his work and his ambitions for the UEA.
SHACK15: How did you get involved in urban ed, and can you tell us more about what urban ed means?
Seriguchi: I was introduced to Urban Ed Academy through a mentor in Sacramento. He knew I wanted to continue my work in the education field and that I wanted an opportunity to pursue some entrepreneurial ideas around Black male educators.
From what I saw, Urban Ed Academy was the epitome of a racial equity investment strategy–the work was totally focused on Black boys and their educational development, leveraging a Black staff, Black volunteers, and Black vendors to make it happen. We need allies, but we believe transformational education requires representation–every child deserves to see themselves in the classroom.
SHACK15: Can you talk about your motivation behind starting the Man the Bay campaign for Black male teacher recruitment?
Seriguchi: I personally did not have a Black male teacher until I got to college and law school. I didn’t realize the impact of that absence until I taught a high school class in Washington, DC as the only Black male teacher in my group. I saw the power of connection that I had with my students firsthand. I knew I needed to focus my time on making that experience available for more of our students. After seeing the wave of investments made after the My Brother’s Keeper initiative came out of the White House, it felt like a great time to take a bet on ourselves to do something big.
SHACK15: How did you become a grantee of the Golden State Warriors Community Foundation?
Seriguchi: Our past board members and advisors introduced us to the Warriors Community Foundation 8 years ago and started out with a small investment in our Saturday School work. All credit goes to Nicole Lacob for seeing the promise in our team and being such an amazing champion for us through this growth phase into Black male teacher recruitment. We are excited for another year of partnership together in 2022-23.
SHACK15: You're currently planning a fundraising event in the fall, what will the fundraising go towards?
Seriguchi: As part of our growth, we are deepening our recruitment efforts to include more California universities and colleges in addition to the 25 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in our network. We are also purchasing our first building in San Francisco in service of the teacher housing we offer–the old police building in Bayview Hunter’s Point. We’re very excited to also expand our team and bring on new talent to support these new opportunities for us.
SHACK15: How can people help and support the cause?
Seriguchi: We welcome any of the 3 T’s: time, talent, or treasure. Please visit our website at www.urbanedacademy.org to get in touch with us and find us on social media to follow our accounts. Please share our work and help evangelize our mission!